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Wednesday, May 16, 2018

How does a compass work on my smartphone?

How does a compass work on my smartphone?


How does a compass work on my smartphone?

Posted: 16 May 2018 04:06 AM PDT

I found these circles on a map which are weird formations; what made them?

Posted: 16 May 2018 04:15 AM PDT

I'll try to make this brief. I was looking on a local satellite map in my area, Thumb of Michigan, USA, and I found several circles, all in the area, if not the same section.

Some of it's state land, so I hiked out there to see what it was. There's no trails (new or old distinguishable) to any of these. They're a section of land, about 300-400 feet round, with...20-30 feet of water, like a moat, around it. There's no markings or telling of equipment that I could see that made these. I've asked people who know about the CCC, local historians, soil testing people, and a few logging gurus, and none of them can tell me what it is.

As best as I can tell, the trees are 70-135 years old on these patches of land.

Here's a picture from Imgur https://imgur.com/a/aRt3C0N

And I found it originally from here: https://www.tuscolacounty.org/gis/

You can see a view on Google Maps, but it must have to do with leaves covering it or what not. On the GIS map, there's 20+ of these.

submitted by /u/vampirebite
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Did Europeans catch diseases from Native Americans?

Posted: 15 May 2018 04:48 PM PDT

When Europeans first explored and settled America they brought "old world diseases" with them and that caused many death in the following years. But I was wondering if Natives had diseases that the settlers have no immunity for. If yes, did it cause much trouble ? Are there any sources for that ?

submitted by /u/birolata
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Why and how do stomachs rumble?

Posted: 16 May 2018 01:52 AM PDT

Why is the sky a yellowish hue after major storms?

Posted: 15 May 2018 05:09 PM PDT

In New Jersey, we just had a big thunderstorm come through (it's still here, really). It was part of a system that produced some tornadoes as well. While it is 8 pm, the sky and the world around us had this yellowish hue that is pretty rare. I've heard about this before, but can anyone explain why this happens? Is it the same/similar principle as the sky turning orange, red, and pink during dawn and dusk?

submitted by /u/Gryfenn
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How many fossils do we estimate is lost? And thus how much of the animal/plant kingdom of old times is left undiscovered?

Posted: 16 May 2018 12:16 AM PDT

Can you encrypt data more than once?

Posted: 15 May 2018 11:59 PM PDT

Lets say I have an image on my computer that I dont want anyone else to see.

Is it possible to encrypt it twice and double the encryption?

What about using two or more different encryption techniques?

submitted by /u/hashtagnub
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Why do earthquakes have "centers" that always appear to be point-like? Why aren't they long and thin, following the length of the fault line?

Posted: 15 May 2018 10:48 AM PDT

For instance, this map of the earthquake that caused the 2004 tsunami. Did the earthquake really happen at a single isolated location from which the effects radiated out? If so, why does this happen, as opposed to a long stretch of the fault all shifting at once?

Or was the location of the shift really more long/thin, and this map just depicts where the most energy was released?

submitted by /u/TrumpImpeachedAugust
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What exactly was Schrodinger trying to prove with “Schrodingers Cat”?

Posted: 16 May 2018 04:04 AM PDT

Active vs. semi-active vibration isolation vs. vibration control, which is what?

Posted: 16 May 2018 06:42 AM PDT

Title is a bit weird but I actually want to identify the differences between these four cases : 1) Active Vibration Isolation 2) Semi-active Vibration Isolation 3) Active Vibration Control 4) Semi-active Vibration Control

I am not sure if they are completely different strategies or similar terms used by different researchers.

Isolation is a term related to the transmissibility, but do Isolation and Control aim the same thing? What changes between active and semi-active?

Thanks in advance,

submitted by /u/godgear
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Does water temperature affect sediment deposition?

Posted: 16 May 2018 12:29 AM PDT

I just recently heard the term "cold water agate" and it dawned on me that this was something I had never considered. I have some knowledge of geology, but not extremely in depth.

submitted by /u/iLosePasswords
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How would one find the Free Energies of Metal Ions?

Posted: 15 May 2018 05:08 PM PDT

I'm currently doing simulations of complex formations in silico, and I'm interested in calculating the free energy of formation for the compounds. I know that I have to look into the Free Energy differences with the bound (G [ML]) and the unbound (G [M] + G [L]). I know I can just model the ligands to get G[L], but I'm stumped as to where to get G[M], and I couldn't find any relevant literature, either. Any help?

submitted by /u/kuroisekai
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How are pi's digits verified?

Posted: 15 May 2018 11:45 AM PDT

Once pi is calculated using an algorithm on a computer, how is it checked to make sure they are the actual digits? For the current record of most digits calculated, wikipedia says it took 105 days to complete generating pi, but only 28 hours to verify it. Why is this time so much less?

submitted by /u/BuddyIsKewl
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Will rising sea levels cause the Great Lakes to Rise too?

Posted: 15 May 2018 02:41 PM PDT

Great Lakes water levels are currently near historic highs https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/dashboard/portal.html.

Will rising oceanic levels resulting from Climate Change eventually push up water levels in the great lakes? Is that even how any of this works?

submitted by /u/ChewyLouis
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what happens to coal powerplants when a country dont use them for 55 straight hours?

Posted: 16 May 2018 12:17 AM PDT

you cant shut them down entirely, can you? and if you dont shut them down entirely, where does the produced power go?

submitted by /u/DrDespolardo
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What is an itch and why does it happen?

Posted: 15 May 2018 10:46 AM PDT

are there very basic axioms that cover all/most types of mathematics?

Posted: 15 May 2018 10:07 PM PDT

I was thinking about stuff like:

for a variable x: x = x

or all these things that are at the root of all types of mathematics, but we don't realize because they seem obvious. And also, that we assert to be right without proof.

submitted by /u/Arakniode
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What factors contribute to light refracting into a rainbow pattern when passed through a crystal?

Posted: 15 May 2018 06:12 PM PDT

I've noticed that when sunlight passes through crystals at the right angle, it always refracts into a rainbow. But when I hold a flashlight up to a crystal, it only refracts when the flashlight is intense enough and the right distance away. What factors determine the intensity and sharpness of a refraction pattern?

submitted by /u/SheLovesCacti
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What defines the coordinates in space?

Posted: 15 May 2018 05:31 PM PDT

How are coordinates defined in space? Is there a 0,0,0 (X,Y,Z) defined somewhere?

submitted by /u/prodigydk
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Is the critical angle of light affected by it's speed in the medium?

Posted: 15 May 2018 09:06 PM PDT

The question is specifically like this: Two transparent media, the speed of light in the first is lower than it's speed in the second medium. Then the critical angle of light in the second medium is (less than, more than, equal, no correct answer)the critical angle in the first medium.

I mean by the critical angle that it's the angle of incidence that if you exceed, light doesn't refract, but instead a total reflection happens.

submitted by /u/Mr-SomeRedditor
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Are RSA and Diffie Hellman methods both forms of public key cryptography?

Posted: 15 May 2018 07:36 PM PDT

If anyone could also clarify the differences, that would be a huge bonus- for now I'm just trying to figure out if they are the same thing!

submitted by /u/ds1749320
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Is an increase of the entropy of the universe definite or just extremely likely?

Posted: 15 May 2018 02:07 PM PDT

I've been looking for an explanation for the reason behind the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and many of the explanations I've read include an explanation of possible microstates, macrostates, and the probabilities of those macrostates based on the total number of possible microstates that compose those macrostates. This makes sense to me, but it also seems to imply that the universe increasing in entropy is just very probable, but it often seems to be presented as a definite law. Is it theoretically possible for the entropy of the universe to decrease for some infinitesimal fraction of a second, or is it impossible for this to occur? If it is impossible, can you please explain why? Thank you very much!

submitted by /u/0pp3nh31m3r
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